SUMITRA MISHRA

 

 

 

SUMITRA MISHRA

 

An Evening On The Arabian Sea

 

As the soft golden gaze

Of the December Sun

 Gloriously touched the voluptuous

Buxom body of the Arabian sea

And the western sky became red in shy

The horizon was dotted

With numerous rangoli patterns of passion,

 

And the golden ripples glittered

In the thrill of a cosmic union,

A cluster of beautiful sea gulls

Followed our ferry from the Elephanta caves

Towards the Gateway of India

Riding the waves of hunger or desire

I can not say,

For instead of returning to their

Nest of peace after

Winding up their busy hunting day

They regaled and rejoiced

swooping down on the green canvas of water

Bickering over bits of chips and grains

Thrown by the tourists on the ferry

Named “The Hannibal”

 Their wings craving for the blue sky

Their dreams clinging to their nests.

 

While twilight prepared to draw her curtain

On the blackish water stage

The lusty queen Earth experienced

A fleeting moment of ecstasy

As the great golden sun now red in passion

Bowed its head

To plant a farewell kiss on the ripples of the sea

The sea gulls quailed in glee,

My heart filled with a tranquil joy

I had long forgotten to feel.

 

Death Mystery

 

Last year the Lord of Death

Invaded the Earth

Like a dark shadow

Riding on the back of a buffalo

Called Corona

It's stench permeated the psyche of

The human race

Like the putrid stench

Of gas from a broken gas pipe.

 

Someone said,

 " Why so afraid of Death?

What's death,

Besides a reorientation?”

 

Another old man wisely declared

“It’s nothing but

A change of dress, a disrobing;

A birth into the unborn,

An end for a new beginning.”

 

My father said,

“Nothing to worry, dear!

Death is not a matter of fear,

It’s a journey back to home,

The destination of our resurrection after fall! "

 

Some philosophers said,

"Death is the road to eternity;

If one can give up everything material, surrender to the Creator

And hold onto nothing".

 

Some others said ,

"It's the end of the unreal, the maya,

And the beginning of the real, the eternal".

 

But I couldn’t agree

When someone said

Death carried my mother’s soul on the back of a cat

She may get fried in hot oil in the hell,

I knew my mother deserves a place in the heaven,

She sacrificed each moment of her life in service to her family .”

 

 

SUMITRA MISHRA

 

Dr. SUMITRA MISHRA is a Retired Professor of English and a bilingual writer who writes in English and her mother tongue Odia.To her credit she has published six books of poetry titled PENELOPE'S WEB, FLAMES OF SILENCE, THE SOUL OF FIRE, STILL THE STONES SING, THE RED MOON, ROSES AND BRUISES, and a short story titled REMENISCENCE. Dr. Mishra has also written poetry, short stories, plays and translation books in her mother tongue. Her poems and stories have been published in many reputed magazines and e-zines in both Odia and English. She is editing a women's magazine in Odia titled SMRUTI SANTWONA. She is a life member of Odisha Lekhika Sansad.  She is an avid blogger and her blog is www.Smiling Sumitra.com, where she posts videos of her English and Odia poetry as well as short stories and chants.